XPRESS MAGAZINE
Safety Nets on the Golden Gate Story by Diani Ellis Photo by Dyanna Calvario
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ince it’s opening day in 1937, the bridge has had on average about 30 people each year take their lives by climbing over the edge and leaping off. Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has decided to go further with building a barrier to prevent suicidal jumpers. With figuring out the best way to do that, the net barriers came into play. The nets will be placed 20 feet below the bottom of the bridge and extend 20 feet from the bridge. When a jumper falls into them, the impact will break a few bones, but may also save lives. After figuring out what would be installed, the board needed to figure out where the millions of dollars for the project was going to come from, moving the end date of the project to 2023, instead of 2021. According to the Golden Gate Highway
documenting the bridge for over two years now, about six to eight hours a day. “The net has good intentions and will save some lives. But some things have unintended consequences and I think the net will be one of those. In 2019, 28 people jumped from the bridge. But what I don’t hear people talking about is how many interventions there are. Right now Bridge Patrol intervenes on about 200
and Transportation Board, the project will cost $211 million. The funding will come from federal and state grants, as well as bridge tolls and donations. However, when the project was released to the city of San Francisco, some residents weren’t as happy with the idea, as the board expected them to be. “I’ve been documenting the construction of the net since the first few beams were installed,” Jake Ricker said. “From everything I’ve seen and learned, from my time on the bridge I’m 100% against the net.” Ricker, a 32-year-old photographer, has been
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